Method of and apparatus for making knitted fabric



G. L. LOGAN Jan. 16, 1940.

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRIC Filed July 6, 1937 3Sheets-Sheet 1 Jan. 16, 1940. L N 2,187,132

METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRIC Filed July 6, 1937 sSheets-Sheet 2 MHHHH urni:amadmanu:limililnnunuilmaz'a'e'rrri'i'i':i'i'iWi' m i IlHl IH Illll I I TNT i I Hill Gllqym z I IJan. 16, G. L. LOGAN I METHOD OF AND APPARATUS FOR MAKING KNITTED FABRICFiled July 6, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 IIIII II 1G. 1T5 Em. Ti

Patented Jan. 16, 1940 PATENT OFFICE METHOD 01' AND APPARATUS FOR MAKINGKNITTED FABRIC 5 George L. Logan, Syracuse, N. Y., assignor to TompkinsBros. 00., Syracuse, N. Y., a corporation of New York Application July6, 1937, Serial No. 152,213

9 Claims. (01. 66-80) This invention relates to knitted fabrics, and amethod of and apparatus for making the same. More especially, it has todo with the utilization of a backing or lay-in thread or yarn to form 5stitches which appear in a predetermined pattern on the face of thefabric.

A backing or lay-in thread normally and heretofore shows only on theback of the fabric, but through the practice of my invention, wherein mthe backing thread is caused to appear on the face of the fabric atpredetermined needles, as well as on the back of the fabric, I am ableto obtain a contrast in the same feed or horizontal row of stitches asby using a backing or lay-in thread or yarn of a distinguishing color orother characteristic.

An important advancement resulting from the invention resides in theability to obtain a wide spacing of stripes or lines running through thefabric vertically or at an angle to the horizontal, or, in fact, anydesired spacing, without showing an intermingling of colors, and withoutnecessitating a long float on the back of the fabric.

For example, a backing or lay-in thread or yarn of one color may be usedto produce solid vertical or substantially vertical stripes or linesspaced as much as forty needles apart, more or less, and

another thread or yarn of another color used to v form a backgroundbetween these vertical lines 0 or stripes, which background can also beof a solid color. Of course, the invention is not limited to theformation of vertical lines or stripes by the backing or lay-in threador yarn, as the same may be knitted in the fabric-so as to appear 35 onthe face of the fabric as an inclined line or stripe, and theinclination thereof may be varied to any desired degree. Also, thebackground intermediate the stripes or lines formed by the layin orbacking thread or yarn may be composed to of threads or yarns of two ormore colors, or of different or contrasting physical characteristics, soas to produce a mixed background rather than a background of a solidcolor, as mentioned above, if desired.

45 One practical and important application of ,my invention is found inthe case of such designs as so-called overplaids. Heretofore, it hasbeen considered impossible or impracticable to produce overplaid designson fiat fabrics. By way of ex- 00 planation, a regular plaid isconsidered to be a design of vertical and horizontal stripes of onecolor, arranged to form squares or blocks of any size, with the innerportion of the squares or blocks bounded by the stripes showing thestripe Ml color and/or another color. This type of design is not new infiat fabrics. However, for an overplaid, it is necessary to introducestill another color in the fabric in horizontal and vertical stripes orlines forming additional blocks or squares which are displaced bothhorizontally 5 and vertically with respect to the blocks or squares ofthe regular plaid design aforesaid; but it is important, or at leastvery desirable, that the color of the-overplaid stripes or lines shallnot show on the face of the fabric between the over- 10 plaid stripes orlines. I am now able to readily obtain such designs in flat fabrics, aswill hereinafter more fully appear.

The primary object of the invention is to produce a knitted flat fabrichaving a backing or layin thread or yarn incorporated therein in suchmanner that the same appears at predetermined spaced points on the faceof the fabric, but not of a design, on the face of the fabric.

Another object of the invention is to provide in a circular springneedle knitting machine, means for introducing and manipulating abacking or lay-in thread or yarn under the beards of selected needles toultimately form a solid or uninterrupted line or stripe on the face ofthe knitted fabric, while on the same horizontal feed or row ofstitches, all other needles except these selected needles receive undertheir beards another thread, or yarn, which is knitted to form the mainbody of the fabric.

Other and further objects and advantages of the invention will behereinafter described and the novel features thereof defined by theappended claims.

In the drawings:

Figure 1 is a fragmentary view in top plan, showing somewhatdiagrammatically a portion of a needle circle of a leaded or trickspring needle circular knitting machine, and its associated yarn orthread manipulating instrumentalities, the same having an arrangement asin practicing my *5 invention as applied to knitting an overplaiddesign;

Figure 1A is a continuation of Figure 1; Figures 2 and 2-A are developedviews, shown somewhat diagrammatically in side elevation, 11- lustratingthe relationship of the various threads at the different points aboutthe needle circle in the course of knitting one horizontal stitch row orfeed in the production of a fabric having an overplaid design on theface thereof;

Figure 3 is an enlarged, fragmentary top plan view of the needle circle,showing the manner in which the lay-in or backing thread or yarn isinitially presented to the needles;

Figure 4 is a somewhat diagrammatic view of a fragmentary portion of aknitted flat fabric illustrating the application of my invention to theknitting of an overplaid design.

Figure 5 is an enlarged view of a fragmentary section of fabric knittedaccording to my invention, and particularly showing the stitchstructure, and the backing or lay-in thread knitted in such manner as toappear on the face of the fabric at predetermined needles only, thusforming a vertical stripe at such points in the fabric as represented bythe shaded stitches or loops.

Figures 6 to 12, inclusive, are detail sectional views taken on thelines 6--6, |-'I, 88, 9--9, Ill-40, I|ll and i2-l2, respectively, ofFigure 1A, and showing the difierent steps of the knitting operations asthey occur at the different points about the needle circle in theknitting of each horizontal row of stitches, as diagrammaticallyrepresented in Figure 2A.

Like reference characters designate corresponding parts in the severalfigures of the drawings.

Considering first Figures 1 and 1-A, there is represented in these viewsa well known type of circular spring needle knitting machine whichincludes the usual rotary needle cylinder (not shown) which carries thespring needles i, together with a suitable set-up of wheels andequipment arranged so as to produce an overplaid in the knitted fabric,as shown in Figure 4. The various thread feeding and manipulating wheelsand equipment are for the most part conventional parts and are wellknown to those skilled in the art, but it will be observed that the sameare arranged in a novel relationship so as to produce the new result, towit, an overplaid design, which I am able to now obtain on such aknitting machine. The fabric is knitted on the spring needles I in theusual tubular form, and as the stitches are cast off the needles, thefabric is taken up axially, preferably in an upward direction, by theusual take-up means (not shown) which forms a part of the conventionalknitting machine represented in the drawings.

The reference character 2 designates a conventional cloth push-down orshoe which is so mounted in relation to the needle circle as to push thepreviously knitted stitches or loops down on the needles as the needlecircle, together with the knitted cloth, rotates in the direction of thearrows shown in Figures 1 and 1A. Intermediate the opposite ends of thepush-down 2, there is mounted on the machine a backing wheel 3 which isadapted to introduce a backing or lay-in thread or yarn 4 into theneedle circle. This backing thread is represented in the drawings asbeing blue in color, by way of example, but, of course, I do not desireto be limited to the use of any particular color. In introducing thebacking thread 4 into the needle circle, it is laid in the usual manner,that is, alternately in front and back of selected needles. Preferably,the backing thread is alternately disposed in front of one needle andbehind two needles, as best seen in Figure 3, but this arrangement maybe varied as desired. To obtain the initial disposition of the backingthread, as shown in Figure 3, blocks 3f are inserted in the backingwheel 3 at suitable points, so that these blocks will engage every thirdneedle of the needle circle and push the same inwardly towards the axisof the needle circle, thereby causing the backing thread to be broughtdown in front of every third needle. At those points where there are noblocks in the backing wheel, the backing thread will be fed in behindthe needles. As the needles advance in the direction of the arrowsbeyond the backing wheel, the backing thread is carried down on theneedles by the clearing wheel 5. Thereafter, another thread 6, which isrepresented in the draw ings as a white thread, is put into the beardsof the needles by the stitch wheel I at all needles except where it isdesired to show the backing thread on the face of the fabric. It mightbe mentioned here that, as is usual in such knitting machines asrepresented herein, the back of the fabric is on the outside of theknitted tube and the face of the fabric is on the inside.

The thread 6 is kept out of certain selected or designated needles byblocks 1' in the stitch wheel 1, which act to close the selected needlebeards engaged thereby, and thus prevent the thread from entering underthe beards. These blocks 1', which are inserted between the blades ofthe stitch wheel I, must be set on one of the needles which is pressedin by a block 3' of the backing wheel 3, as will hereinafter become moreapparent. According to the arrangement illustrated in the drawings, theblocks 1' of the stitch wheel I are disposed to engage every,twenty-first needle, thereby causing the thread 6 to be left out ofthese needles, as best seen in Figure 2A, at the point designated 8. Atthis same point, it will be noted that the backing thread 4 lies infront of this selected needle, that is, on the outside of the needlecircle.

As the needles advance beyond the stitch wheel 1, they come intoengagement with the presser 9, which presses all of the needle beardsclosed excepting at those points where there is a deep slot 9 in thepresser. These deep slots 9' must be set on the same needle as theblocks 1 of the stitch wheel 1, which, as previously mentioned, engageevery twenty-first needle. Thus, as the cloth is allowed to raise by thetermination of the push-down 2, and by the raising action of the landerburr III, as the needles advance in the direction of the arrows, the oldloops, together with the backing thread, are caused to slide up underthe needle beards at the point 8'. At this point 8', the thread 6 isstill left out of the needle under the beard of which the backing threadand the old loop from the previous feed has just been received. Theseold loops are designated H. The old loops II are not allowed to cast offat the point 8', but are pushed down again by the push-down wheel l2,while the backing thread 4 is retained under the beard of the needle atthis point. In only the predetermined, designated needles, which,according to the example given herein, are composed of everytwenty-first needle, is the backing thread under the needle beard,whereas the rest of the needles have the backing thread interwoven inback and in front of them in the regular manner.

As the needles advance beyond the push-down wheel l2, they come intoengagement with the presser l3 which now presses all the needle beardsclosed, and then the lander burr ll lands the old loops II on the needlebeards. Further advancement of the needles brings the same into positionwhere the cast oil wheel l5 casts the old loops of! the needles, therebycompleting the knitting of a succession of loops. The manipulation ofthe threads and formation of the stitches or loops as just described isshown step-by-step in Figures 6 to 12, inclusive, wherein Figure 6represents the step of initial introduction of the backing or lay-inthread, and Figure 12 represents the final formation of this backing orlay-in thread into a stitch or loop at predetermined needles such asthose at the points designated 8, 8', etc., of Figure 2A. In thecompleted fabric, knitted in the manner just described, the backingthread 4, which has been illustrated as a blue thread, will be presentedat spaced points on the face of the fabric in the form of solid orcontinuous stripes or lines, designated IS in Figures 4 and 5. Thestripes or lines It are of a solid and uninterrupted blue color byreason of the fact that the white thread 6 is floated on the back of thefabric, and lies behind the backing thread stripes at these points.

Referring now to Figure 1, S generally designates a striper which may beof any suitable construction, and the purpose of which is to introduce athread of a third color into the fabric in carrying out the over plaiddesign shown in Figure 4. The striper includes a pair of fingers I! andI8, each of which carries a separate thread so as to alternately presentthe same to the stitch wheel l9, which is adapted to feed these threadsinto the needles, one at a time, in the usual manner. 1

In the case of the fabric illustrated in Figure 4, one of these threads,for example, the thread 20,

is red in color, and the other thread 2| corre-' sponds in color to thecolor of the backing thread, which has been shown as a blue thread. Ofcourse, these colors may be varied as desired, ac-- cording to thecontrast preferred in the ultimate design to be produced on the fabric.Through the interchangeable action of the striper fingers l1 and 18 ofthe striper S, in the usual and well known manner, vertically spacedblue stripes or lines l6, extending horizontally on the face of thefabric, are produced. These horizontal blue stripes l6, together withthe vertical blue stripes l6, form blocks or squares on the fabric, andconstitute the overplaid stripes or lines. The regular plaid design isformed by the red and white threads 2| and 6 respectively, which areknitted and striped in the fabric in the well known, conventional mannerinvolving the use of a cut presser (not shown) ordinarily used for atuck stitch pattern, and a striper additional to the one shown in thedrawings, to produce vertical white stripes or lines 22 and horizontalwhite stripes or lines 22', which, taken together, form blocks orsquares on the face of the fabric which are displaced both vertically,as well as axially, respecting the blocks or squares formed by thehorizontal and vertical blue stripes. With the set-up as illustrated inFigures 1 and 1-'A, the background color on the face of the fabric willbe composed of a mixture of red and white threads, which distinctlycontrast with the various-stripes, and present a very pleasing andattractive design.

It will be understood that Figures 1 and 1-A show only so much of thesetup of the knitting machine as is essential to the knitting of thebacking or lay-in thread to form a part of a pattern on the face of thefabric. In the case of the over-plaid pattern shown in Figure 4,additional feeds are required, as will be obvious to those skilled inthe art. In other words, the setup shown in Figures 1 and 1--A would beduplicated on'the opposite side of the machine to provide a striperdiametrically opposed to striper S, and this other striper would feedred and white threads instead of red and blue, this being necessary to76 produce the horizontal white stripes 22'. There would also be anotherwhite thread fed diametrically opposite to the stitch wheel 1, andanother blue backing or lay-in thread fed diametrically opposite to thebacking wheel 3, these feeds being identical with those shown in thedrawings. Accordingly, the regular stitches will be knitted in alternatered and white horizontal rows or courses when both stripers are feedingred threads. To produce a horizontal white stripe, the striper oppositeto S is changed in the conventional manner to render its red feedinoperative and its white feed operative for one course, thus producingthree successive white courses which constitute one horizontal whitestripe. Thereupon, the striper opposite to S is immediately changed froma white feed toa red feed and the knitting is continued in alternate redand white courses until another horizontal white stripe is desired.

To get the vertical white stripe 22, the red threads are merely tuckedbehind the white at these points in a conventional manner so that red ison the back of the fabric and only the white shows on the face.

As used in the spring needle knitting machine trade, the terms backingthread and lay-in thread are synonymous, and they are so intended to beunderstood in the foregoing specification and appended claims.

From the foregoing, various modifications of my new method and apparatusto obtain different striped or other designs will be readily apparent tothose skilled in the art. Obviously, instead of obtaining the designs bythe use of threads or yarns of contrasting colors, I can use threads oryarns of different physical characteristics. In any case, one of theessential features of themvention is to produce a contrasting effect atspaced points onthe face of the fabric through the-use of a backing orlay-in thread or yarn which is so related to the knitted fabric body asto appear at predetermined points on the face thereof, and whicheliminates or obviates long floats.

While the specific details have been herein shown and described, theinvention is not confined thereto as changes and alterations may be madewithout departing from the spirit thereof as defined by the appendedclaims.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. The method of knitting flat fabrics on circular spring needleknitting machines, which comprises introducing a thread or yarn into allbut certain spaced needles and knitting the same to form a knitted bodyhaving floats at spaced points therein, and introducing a contrastinglay-in thread or yarn in the same horizontal row of stitches andknitting the same at the certain spaced needlesaforesaid in such mannerthat the latter thread or yarn appears on the face of the knitted bodyonly at the spaced float points aforesaid.

- 2. The method of knitting fiat fabrics on circular spring needleknitting machines, which comprises introducing a thread or yarn into theneedles to form a knitted body, introducing a contrasting lay-in threador yarn in the same horizontal row of stitches, manipulating the threadsor yarns so that the lay-in thread or yarn is brought under the needlebeards of selected needles while the first-mentioned thread or yarn isbrought under the beards of all other needles of the same feed orhorizontal stitch row except the selected needles aforesaid, andknitting the threads to form a succession of loops, certain of which arecomposed of the lay-in thread or yarn and are presented at spacedintervals on the face of the fabric, with the first-mentioned thread 5floated on the back of the fabric at such points.

8. The method of knitting flat fabrics on circular spring needleknitting machines, which comprises introducing a thread or yarn into allbut certain spaced needles and knitting the same to form a knitted body,and introducing a contrasting lay-in thread or yarn alternately in frontof and behind the needles in the same horizontal row of stitches, andknitting said latter thread or yarn at the certain spaced needlesaforesaid in such manner that the latter thread or yarn appears on theface of the knitted body only at spaced intervals.

4. The method of producing designs in flat fabrics on circular springneedle knitting machines, which comprises introducing a thread of onecolor into the needles and knitting the same to form loops, pressing theloops down on the needles, introducing a lay-in thread of another coloralternately in front of and behind the needles, moving the latter threaddownwardly on the needles, introducing another thread of a third colorunder the beards of all of the needles except certain selected ones ofthose needles which have the lay-in thread in front of the same,pressing the beards of all of the needles closed excepting those certainselected needles aforesaid which do not have the thread of the thirdcolor under the beards, moving the lay-in thread and loops upwardly onthe needles, whereby to bring the lay-in thread and certain of the loopsunder the needle beards of the selected needles aforesaid, pushing theloops down on the needles while leaving the lay-in thread under theneedle boards of the selected needles, pressing all of the needle beardsclosed and landing the loops on the beards and casting the same off ofthe needles, and periodically substituting another thread of the samecolor as the lay-in thread, for the first mentioned thread.

5. In a circular spring needle knitting machine of the class described,the combination with a rotary needle cylinder carrying a circle ofbearded spring needles, of means for introducing a thread into all butcertain spaced needles and knitting the same to form loops and spacedfloats in the same horizontal row, and means for introducing a lay-inthread into the needles and for manipulating and knitting the same atthe certain spaced needles aforesaid in such manner that the lay-inthread is presented on the face of the fabric only at the spaced floatsaforesaid in the same horizontal row of loops.

6. In a circular spring needle knitting machine of the class described,the combination with a rotary needle cylinder carrying a circle ofbearded spring needles, of means for introducing a thread into all butcertain spaced needles and knitting the same to form loops and spacedfloats in the same horizontal row, and means for introducing a lay-inthread into the needles and for knitting of the fabric at the spacedfloats only, in the form of a continuous succession of knitted loopsextending lengthwise of the fabric.

7. In a circular spring needle knitting machine of the class described,the combination with a rotary needle cylinder carrying a circle ofbearded spring needles, of means for introducing a thread into theneedles and knitting the same to form loops, means for introducing alay-in thread into the needles and for manipulating the same in suchmanner that the lay-in thread is presented on the face of the fabric atspaced intervals, and means for floating the first-mentioned thread onthe back of the fabric at those points where the lay-in thread ispresented on the face of the fabric.

8. In a circular spring needle knitting machine of the class described,the combination with a rotary needle cylinder carrying a circle ofbearded spring needles, of a stitch wheel including means forintroducing a thread into all of the needles excepting certain selectedneedles, a backing wheel for introducing a lay-in thread alternately infront of and in back of the needles, with said lay-in thread disposed infront of the selected needles aforesaid, and instrumentalities formanipulating said threads so as to knit the lay-in thread at theselected needles aforesaid into loops, and to knit the other thread alsointo loops at the other needles, whereby to present the knitted lay-inthread loops on the face of the fabric at spaced intervals correspondingto the selected needles aforesaid, with the other thread floated on theback of said fabric at such points.

9. In a circular spring needle knitting machine of the class described,the combination with a rotary needle cylinder carrying a circle ofbearded spring needles, of a striper for alternately introducing threadsof different colors into the needles, means for knitting said threads toform a succession of loops arranged in spaced stripes extendinghorizontally across the fabric, means for pressing down the loops on theneedles, a lay-in wheel for introducing a lay-in thread of a colorcorresponding to one of the colors of the first-mentioned threads, intothe same horizontal stitch row so as to be alternately disposed in frontof and back of the needles, means for pushing down the lay-in thread onthe needles, a stitch wheel for introducing a thread of another colorinto all but certain selected needles having the lay-in thread in frontof the same same, a presser for pressing closed the beards of all theneedles excepting those selected needles aforesaid, a lander burr formoving the loops and lay-in thread under the beards of the selectedneedles aforesaid, push-down means for pushing the loops down on theneedles while the lay-in thread is retained under the beards of theselected needles aforesaid, presser means for pressing the beards of allthe needles closed, lander means for landing the loops on the beards ofall the needles, and a cast-off wheel for completing the knitting of asuccession of loops, whereby to produce a design on the face of theknitted fabric having vertical stripes formed by the lay-in thread.

GEORGE L. LOGAN.

